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AMC’s “Preacher” is a Complete Mess…and I’m Loving Every Second of it!
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have taken on a unscrupulous task of adapting Garth Ennis’ “Preacher” comic series, which has been called “unadaptable” through its decade-plus years in development. Thanks to the success of shows like “The Walking Dead”, AMC took a chance on “Preacher”, which hasn’t been gaining the traction that the cable channel had hoped. Still, they’re moving forward with a second season, which I expect will fix a lot of the issues at hand.
Season One concluded last night with what can only be described as confused. Tonally, Rogen and Goldberg are all over the place with ‘Preacher”, which wants to be a Quentin Tarantino film meets “Breaking Bad”, while also being faithful to the comics. Every step the duo have taken is course to ostracize casual viewers, which hit its peak when Jesse Custer’s “flock” are introduced to the “Alpha and the Omega” during a church proceeding. This goofy sequence was more in line with what I’d expect from Rogen and Goldberg, yet it strangely didn’t mix in with the previous nine episodes. Below you can watch a portion of the scene in which Jesse realizes that whomever is speaking is nothing more than a fraud, and uses Genesis to demand an explanation:
There are so many reasons why this episode, no, season is a head-scratcher. We’ve been playing a guessing game since Episode One, wondering how the series matches the comic series. Everything became clear in the above sequence, which finally, finally delivers an arc for Jesse, who was begging for a purpose throughout the entire season. The irony is that the debut season’s twist is just that, saving the first comic’s reveal for the Season One cliffhanger.
We’ve been eluding to it for weeks, accidentally posting spoiler after spoiler because we had no idea what the hell was in the pipeline, but the comic and series have officially crossed paths and become one with each other. The debut season acted as a prequel to the comic’s storyline, introducing Jesse’s mission: to find God and kick his ass. In the finale, we learn that the “God” who shows up in Church is an imposter, hiding the fact that the real Almighty has vanished. Heaven doesn’t even know where to find him. After this goofy charade, Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy come together to hid the road in search of God, and to make him answer for bailing on mankind. Next season will finally align with the comics and bring us all of the insanity we’ve been expecting, including the Saint of All Killers…and Herr Starr.
I can’t help but wonder if this backstory was even necessary. Or, why couldn’t Rogen and Goldberg have taken a page from “Lost” and injected backstory into the forthcoming road trip, instead of building a massive story around a town they literally decimate in the closing seconds? By doing so, the duo were forced to pigeonhole arcs into each of the character’s lives; for example, we now know that the reason Jesse had given up was that he and Tulip had lost a baby during their life of crime.
Whatever the case, Rogen and Goldberg took “Preacher” and made it their own; it’s raw, messy, and all over the fuckin’ place, but I love it. I’m struggling to find anyone who actually watched the entire season, let alone plans to – and I don’t blame them. Television is strange because an entire season is typically shot before it airs, which means that there’s no way to adjust to consumer complaints or feedback until the following season. I expect that Season Two will find its way, hone in on a tone that the filmmakers are confident with, and finally lock into the epic storyline from Ennis’ source material. My only fear is that it’s too late and that the audience is gone, leaving me and the other hardcore fanboys as the only viewers.
I wish Jesse could use Genesis to get people to watch…
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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